Meandering Missive: Synchronicity! or 'Fortune Favours the Brave'

Friday, November 25, 2005

Synchronicity! or 'Fortune Favours the Brave'

As if an instance of synchronicity isn't interesting/unusual enough, I've noticed it often comes in waves. This is a good thing, because not only does it kind of make me feel like there's "something good going on" in an otherwise random and difficult world, but it also kind of makes me feel that I may play a small part in generating and/or participating in the synchronicity. :)

I suspect many folks already know what this word means, and others can take it in context. But just for good measure, I'll quickly define it before I finish blogging. Here are two different (slightly condensed) definitions I found on Dictionary.com.

First: "Coincidence of events that seem to be meaningfully related, conceived in Jungian theory as an explanatory principle on the same order as causality."

Second: "The coincidental occurrence of events and especially psychic events (as similar thoughts in widely separated persons or a mental image of an unexpected event before it happens) that seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality."

The reason I'm talking about this all of a sudden begins with yesterday, when I noticed I hadn't changed my blog's "Quote of the Week" for 2-3 weeks. (OOPS!) I have more than 160 quotes on my Favourite Quotes List, and it's always hard to pick one because no quote makes it to my list unless I REALLY like it! So, this time I scrolled down the list with my eyes closed, stopping randomly. When I opened my eyes, I used the first quote I saw, and it was "Fortes fortuna adjuvat." I've also seen it as "Audentes fortuna iuvat."

I don't know Latin well enough to know which is more accurate; I only know the English version is "Fortune favours the brave." It's attributed to the ancient Roman Virgil in his epic poem The Aeneid. That work, incidentally, was inspired by the epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer, an ancient Greek who lived much earlier than Virgil. (This is all significant -- read on!)

Among the many tales of Greek mythology and lore mentioned by Homer is that of Prometheus, who as you know stole fire (which was supposed to be reserved for the gods and goddesses only) and brought it to earth for humans to use. His punishment was being chained to a rock and having an eagle eat his liver every day for eternity. (Eventually the hero Heracles/Hercules killed the bird, much to Prometheus's gratitude!) As if you couldn't tell, I love Greek (and Roman) mythology.

Anyway, today I found myself having lunch in an out-of-the-way little eatery in Boulder Creek with Tony. We didn't plan on eating there, and I don't even recall its name. Blue Sun Cafe? It had an attached mini-area where you could browse/buy art, stationery, scarves, books, jewelry, essential oils, handcrafted candles and soap, etc.

While awaiting our food, I picked up a copy of Metro Santa Cruz, which I normally never read because I don't go over the hill nearly as much as I'd like. Then again, you only have to go halfway through the Santa Cruz Mountains to find it delivered in towns like Boulder Creek, Ben Lomond, Felton, Scotts Valley, etc. :) While leafing through the paper, I came upon the astrology column by Rob Brezsny, one of the few writers of "horrorscopes" ANYWHERE who I actually enjoy reading and who seems to have uncannily good insights. He did not disappoint me this time either. Here's what he said for my sign (Taurus) --

In ancient Greek myth, Prometheus stole the gods' fire and bequeathed it to human beings, allowing them to cook, stay warm when the weather was cold, and make tools and bricks and pottery. According to my reading of the astrological omens, a Prometheus-like influence is now hovering at the peripheries of your world, angling to provide you with a boon that's pretty damn good, even if it isn't as monumental as fire. There's a catch, however. This benefactor will not be able to bestow the gift unless you aggressively ask for it and unless you are alert for its arrival from an unexpected direction.

As soon as I read this (especially the second half), you can imagine what motto it brought immediately to mind: "fortune favours the brave"! And interestingly enough, the first half begins with a reference to the Prometheus myth. That's connected to Homer, and Homer in turn inspired Virgil, from whom we get the motto in the first place!

Here's one more connection, albeit smaller than the others. Yesterday I was reading Reminisce, a magazine about the "good old days" my aunt gave to my dad at Thanksgiving. I happened to read an article about two brothers who scared their mother with a life-size cutout of a tall, lanky Frankenstein's monster. (It was also funny because the brother posing next to the cut-out had such lanky arms that he looked like the monster! *chuckle*) The only reason I mention this article is because the alternate title/subtitle of Mary Shelley's classic 1818 novel Frankenstein was, in fact, The Modern Prometheus.

Interesting how so many seemingly random things (most of which I normally don't even do) all had this specific common bond. That's it (so far!) for me being reminded that fortune favours the brave, but I'm still being reminded that synchro is at work. :) A periodical arrived today that among other things, had a section with a bunch of unusual male, female and unisex baby names. That made me think of the even more unusual names celebrities give their kids these days. I mentioned to my mom it doesn't get much weirder than Periscope! (I can't find on the Internet who it was, but I vividly recall some freaky famous person named their son Periscope a few years ago). At any rate, shortly after our conversation, I happened to watch a silly commercial (I normally ignore commercials) on TV and right there was someone using -- of all the unlikely things -- a PERISCOPE!

When synchro comes in waves like this, it almost always is when I'm unsure about some important thing or situation in my life. It could be connected with family, friends, relationships, work, health, spirituality, finances or whatever. But it's always when I could really use a little encouraging reminder that there's a "bigger picture" going on, it's a good one, and I'm part of it. :) And that's generally exactly when a synchro wave comes! Who knows what may happen next?

Today I am feeling excited and

hopeful.

posted by ScaryShari @ 10:53 PM

2 Comments:

At 2:31 PM, Shari said…

Many miles away
There's a shadow on the door
Of a cottage on the shore
Of a dark...
Scottish...
lake...

Many miles away...
Many miles away...

Thanks - will be stuck in my head 'til sundown!

(Yeah, I know "Synchronicity I" is more Jungian, but this one has the mythy monster. By the way, the Annotated Frankenstein is freaking brilliant - it includes a recipe for oatmeal in the part where Victor visits Scotland! Hold on... Scotland... Scottish lake... whoa... it's everywhere!)
At 9:35 PM, ScaryShari said…

Yet another "synchronicitous" example! ;) (I know the word probably doesn't exist in the adjective form, but perhaps we can coin it.)

You're right, The Police's "Synchronicity II" is a more engaging song than "Synchronicity I", mainly because of the eerie allusions to the Loch Ness Monster and all the other weird lyrics. Also I think the melody of "II" is more appealing. Not to mention the vivid mental images I have of Sting whenever I hear it! *grin* I must admit his wild/rugged look in that video gave me a little crush on him, back in the day!

Anyway, thanks as always for your comments in my blog. You write some of the best comments, and I mean that sincerely. :) I think I'll head over to YOUR blog now, and see what might be new over there...

- Your Cali. namesake

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